One of the Guys
by twilightluver001
Summary: Bella Swan had always been secretly in love with her best friend, Edward Masen. Will he ever stop seeing her as "one of the guys" from the gang? Won first place in the Epic T-Rated Contest. All Human.
1. Chapter 1

**My one-shot entry for the "****Epic T-Rated Contest" hosted by Bronzehairedgirl620 and Daddy's Little Cannibal.**

The rules are as follows:

**1.** No lemons. Must be rated 'T.'

**2.** Has to have a line or reference to a cannibal.

**3**. Has to have a line or reference to a fireman.

**4**. All canon pairings.

**5**. Has to be a one-shot, but is allowed to be continued once the contest is finished.

**6**. Must copy/paste these rules to the top of your submission. Two entries per person. Collaborations acceptable.

**7**. Must PM Bronzehairedgirl620 to alert them of your entry so we can add your story to the C2 if it fits the requirements.

The contest will run until June 6th, 11:59 MST (Mountain Standard Time.) Submissions need to be posted to FF and must follow the rules above.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

**Summary: **Bella Swan didn't have a lot of girl friends while she was growing up and she was the kind of girl that guys categorized as "tomboy". She had always been secretly in love with her best friend, Edward Masen, but will he ever stop seeing her as _one of the guys_ from the gang? ALL HUMAN.

**Author's Note:** This is my first attempt at writing an one-shot so I was really nervous before I posted it up. This idea came into my head after talking to my friends about their past relationships (though I honestly don't know why. The stories that they told me are nothing like this story) and I hope you all like it as much as my chapter stories!

**Disclaimer:** All characters belong to the wonderful Stephenie Meyer.

* * *

"Whoo! Nice shot, Cannibal!"

I high-fived one of my best friends, Emmett McCarty, when he made a three-point shot after getting pass my other best friend, Jasper Whitlock. Emmett received the nickname "Cannibal" after he cleared Jasper's fridge in the fifth grade and ate his chocolate muffin; Jasper had never been able to let that go. Before you misunderstand, Emmett didn't eat human meat or anything, but Jasper said Emmett looked so hungry that he was eyeing Jasper's neck after he finished the brownies.

"Aww! Don't be sour, Jazz," Emmett said tauntingly, his lips twitching into a smirk. "I can't help that I'm better."

Jasper snarled at him and stuck out his tongue while the rest of us laughed at the childish exchange between them. Emmett and Jasper always got into fights. The only thing stopping them from ripping each other's throat out was their girlfriends- Rosalie Hale and Alice Brandon- who happened to be best friends.

"Guys, guys, cool it. It's just a game." A musical, velvety voice sounded from behind me.

My heart skipped as it always did when _he _spoke. His name was Edward Masen and he was who I considered as my number one best friend. I turned around to look at him and found him grinning and rolling his eyes at Emmett and Jasper, who were now going at it again with a round two.

Edward Masen moved here two years ago from Chicago in my sophomore year. I remembered how all the girls in our grade used to throw themselves at him like barflies and how the jocks used to hate him for being the center of the attention. I didn't blame the girls, to be honest. Edward was the best-looking guy that I had ever seen so needless to say, he was _every_ girl's type.

Oh, did I mention that I had a major crush on him?

It wasn't just because he was gorgeous. I wasn't shallow. But I fell for him after seeing how kind and sweet he was to everyone and how he was always the one to stand up to Mike Newton and the rest of the jocks when they picked on middle- schoolers. But it didn't matter anyway. My crush on him, I mean. He was never going to see me as the girlfriend material. After all, in his eyes, I was one of his pals. One of the _guys_.

At first, I was deeply disturbed by it. I mean, I knew I was no Jessica Alba or Natalie Portman but I wasn't _that _unfortunate looking. But the fact that I always hung out with Jasper, Emmett and the other guys from the neighborhood while I was growing up kind of labeled me as a tomboy, though I still wore skirts and dresses from time to time. It wasn't my fault. Really. I tried making a couple of girlfriends so I wouldn't be the odd girl in school but I never truly got along with any of them. I was the kind of girl who would wince at the words "makeover" and "salon" and most girls were offended by that. After my fifth attempt on befriending a female friend, I sort of just gave up on trying. There was nothing wrong with being best friends with boys. They were more straightforward, down to earth, and they didn't gossip. In another words, less drama was involved. And I really, really hated drama. Any kind of drama.

Even though Emmett and Jasper were good companions, there were always things that I would hold back in front of them. Sure. They made me laugh and they made my smile, but they didn't understand me. Not completely, anyway. I loved them both dearly, don't get me wrong, but they were the big-brother type and not the kind of friend you'd have_ heart-to-heart_s to.

But Edward was different. It was as if he could read my mind or something. He knew _exactly _what I was thinking all the time and he was the first person that I would turn to if I was in trouble. We grew very close after spending his first summer here in Forks together, working as waiter and waitress in the local diner. But when school began, we seldom spent time with each other alone. When we hung out, it was never just the two of us. It was always the entire gang, which consisted of eight other boys from our neighborhood.

"Shoot, Swan!" Hollered Eleazar Gregory when Demetri Ayden tossed the ball to my direction. The guys and I spent the majority of our spare time playing basketball down by the lake. None of us were on the varsity team of course- we'd all rather die than to be on the same team as Mike Newton and the rest of his snotty, egotistic friends- but we were pretty good.

"Come on, Swan-y! You can do it!"

The ball went in after hitting the back board. Then turning to Felix Humphrey with a withering glare, I stuck my middle finger in his direction.

"Call me Swan-y one more time, _Fe-Fe,_" I smirked, using the nickname that his mother had made up for him when he was five, "And you're going to get it."

Felix rolled his eyes. He was the only one in our group who had the tendency to cross me whenever he was bored.

"Good shot, Bella," Edward smiled at me as he made his way to the center of the court.

"Thanks, Edward," I murmured, my heart beat quickening.

The game carried on and Emmett yelped with delight when he, along with Edward, Alec, Benjamin and Liam, won the game by two. Demetri and Felix cursed under their breaths and demanded a rematch. If there was anything that those two hated, it was losing. Even in friendly, unimportant little matches like this.

This time, I teamed up with Emmett, Jasper- thank god they were on the same team so we didn't have to hear more bickering- Alec and Liam. I was already breathless from the previous game and the fact that it was growing hotter by the second didn't help my condition at all. Halfway through the game, I tripped over Benjamin's shoe and ended up falling flat on my face.

None of the guys had noticed my fall since they were too engrossed in the game. Even Benjamin, who was now dunking the ball into the hoop.

None of the guys but Edward.

He crouched down in front of me and extended a hand to help me up.

"Are you okay, Bella?" he asked, his emerald eyes swimming with concern.

"I think so- OUCH!" I winced, when I tried to lift myself up from the ground. Great. Not only my ankle was twisted by my elbows were scraped. "You know what? Go back to the game. I'm just going to stay here and not move a muscle until the bleeding stops."

He chuckled. "I still think you should move so you don't get run over. C'mon; put your arm around my neck and I'll help you."

Put my arm around his neck? God. That was something that I had constantly dreamed of since day one. Blushing, I lifted my left arm- very slowly and awkwardly, I might add- and draped it his neck just like he told me to.

Then he was carrying me. Piggy-back style. I hadn't expected him to do such a thing.

"Edward," I said, my breathing ragged by the contact. "You don't have to do this."

"It's fine. You're not that heavy anyway." Then calling the guys from where we were standing, he yelled,

"Yo guys! I'm going to take Bella home, alright? See you all tomorrow!"

The other guys craned their necks and widened their eyes when they saw me on Edward's back.

"Whoa, Bells! You alright? What happened?" Emmett asked, bewildered.

"I fell. But I'm alright. Minor injuries," I assured them.

Jasper frowned. "Should we-"

"No!" I told him. "Continue with the game. Tell me who wins tomorrow, 'kay?"

"Umm… alright!" Felix replied almost too quickly. That's right. There was only one thing that he was concerned about- and it wasn't me. It was the game. Jerk. Sometimes I wondered why I even bothered speaking to him.

"Ready to go?" Edward asked softly.

"Yes," I answered, my voice hoarse. I cleared my throat, embarrassed.

My house wasn't exactly close to the basketball court. In fact, it usually took me about fifteen minutes if I went on foot. None of us said anything at first so the atmosphere was kind of awkward. Edward, too, was shy so I figured if I didn't want the silence to stretch on and on, I had to be the first one to break the ice.

"Hey Edward?"

"Hmm?"

"Why don't I ever see you with a girlfriend?"

Christ. Of all the things to say in the world, why did I ask _that_? Talk about embarrassing. But the question had been a mystery to me- and the other girls in Forks High- so I can't really say I regretted asking. Besides, a friend can ask that, right?

He laughed softly and shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I just don't see anyone that I want to be with yet."

Hmm. Even though he wasn't proclaiming his love for me or anything, I was pleased with his answer. It could have been worse; he could have been secretly crushing on one of the school sluts like Lauren Mallory. I was so grateful that it wasn't the case.

"Why? Too good for the girls in this town?" I joked.

He sighed and shrugged again playfully. "Maybe."

I punched him mockingly in the shoulder.

"So," he began casually. "What's this about you going to senior prom with Mike Newton?"

I rolled my eyes. "Tyler Crowley dared him to do it. I turned him down, of course, and told him that I'd rather jump off a cliff than to spend a night with him."

Edward guffawed. I got a tingly feeling, like electricity had coursed through my veins, when I accidentally brushed the back of my hand against the exposed skin of his toned arm. He really _was _built.

"I bet Mike just _loved _you after that," he said, still laughing. "Guys like him don't really care about the girls they're dating. They only like the chase."

"Thanks for the tip," I muttered. "You know he asked Rosalie out when she first moved here in seventh grade?"

_Every_ male in our school was obsessed with Rosalie Hale when she first moved here. She looked very mature for her age and she was perfect with her wavy blond hair, crystal blue eyes and pale, milky skin. She was like the female version of Edward.

"Yeah?" Edward prompted.

"Well, she punched him in the nose when he used a pick-up line on her. And I think she said something like _'I'm ashamed to be sharing the same hair color with you'_ or something like that. Mike got really pissed and cussed at her. Emmett, playing her knight in shiny armor, tackled him to the ground and made him apologize. You know that was how Emmett and Rosalie got together?"

Jeez. I wishI could just stop talking. Edward must have thought I was a complete blabber. An annoying one, for that matter.

"Hmm…" He murmured. "Interesting."

It was silent again. Gosh. _The_ awkward silence. I wondered if he could feel my heart hammering inside my chest. I wondered if he knew how nervous I was, being alone and so close to him for the first time since he'd started that job at Joe's Garage.

"Bella?" he called softly, breaking me from my train of thoughts.

I cleared my throat. "Yes?"

He deliberated for a moment before speaking. The seconds seemed to have stretched on to hours as I waited.

"Why don't I ever see you with a boyfriend?"

_Great. _He was throwing the question right back at me. I wished I could have seen his face just to see if he was teasing but he sounded a hundred percent serious.

I thought about my answer before I replied.

"Well," I said, the embarrassment from before resurfacing. "It's not like anyone here likes me _that_ way. I'm not the kind of girl guys go after."

As sad as that sounded, what I said was nothing but the truth. Guys went after bubbly blondes like Lauren and Tanya or just someone from the cheerleading squad. I had no draw for them.

Edward didn't say anything so I took that as a silent agreement. I was slightly taken aback by his next question since I had expected him to drop the topic by now.

"Would you _want _a boyfriend?" he asked quietly.

I laughed. "That's not really important. Unlike you, I don't have suitors lining up at my door. Besides," I tightened my arms around his shoulders. It was a friendly gesture, nothing more. "Why would I want a boyfriend when I have you as my bestfriend?"

The last part, of course, was meant to sound teasing. Edward chuckled and murmured "I see" so I knew the awkward part of our conversation was over.

We talked about easier subjects for the rest of the walk home- like school, his boss, Joe, parents, plans for college, plans after college- he told me he wanted to be a fireman, can you believe it?. Anyway, it had been a while since we spent time together- just the two of us- and I had to say I really missed his company. And as always, he made me laugh with his impersonations of Principal Greene- who, I assure you, was the most obnoxious fifty-year-old man alive- and told me how Emmett and Jasper sent the Spanish teacher a card this morning and made her think it was from the bus driver, Loony Randy. I swear, those two boys were just as bad as Fred and George from _Harry Potter _when it came down to pranking people.

He carried me in when we arrived at the house; he knew me well enough to know that I kept a spare key under the doormat. My parents weren't home. Charlie had an evening shift down at the station and Renee had an open house for her kindergarten class.

"Should I get Neosporin for the elbow and BenGay for the ankle?" he asked after he very carefully sat me down on the edge of my bed.

"Thanks. Umm… they're in the cabinet. In the bathroom."

He came back with them faster than I expected. While he applied the cream to my scraped elbow, I all but forgot about the pain. I couldn't keep my eyes off him. I studied the flawlessness of his cheekbone and jaw, the curl of his eyelashes, the way his lips moved when he pressed them together… Then I realized with a pang of agony that there was no way he and I could be together. _Together_ together. He said earlier none of the girls in town had caught his eye, right? I _was_ one of those girls.

Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I stared at his face with a small smile. Maybe he was never going to see my as the girl of his dreams but truthfully, I_ could _live with that. I was lucky enough to have him as a best friend.

"There," he said, placing the final patch on my elbow. "You're good to go. Well, not literally since we both know you're in no condition to be going anywhere tonight," he grinned. "But you know."

I stared at the place that he had just touched, waiting for my heartbeat to slow down. Then I raised my head to smile at him.

"Thank you, Doctor."

Then we just sort of stared at each other for a couple of minutes- or could it had only been seconds?- until he cleared his throat and said, "Well, I better get going. My mom and I are picking my dad up at the airport at seven."

"Right," I said quickly. "Err… Thanks for bringing me home, Edward. I really appreciate it."

He grinned my favorite lopsided grin and extended a fist. "That's what friends are for, right?"

"Best friends," I clarified. And his grin grew impossibly broader.

* * *

My parents came home at around nine o'clock and that was when I had my dinner since our fridge was empty. Renee went straight to bed after checking on me to make sure I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life on a wheelchair; Charlie stayed up and watched a football game that was showing on T.V. Apparently, it was the most important one of the season. I took a long, painful bath and had just finished blow-drying my hair when I heard my cell-phone ringing.

"Hello?"

A voice from the other side of the line chuckled. "You finished showering?"

It was Edward.

Rolling my eyes, I grasped the phone with my chin and shoulder while running a brush through my hair.

"How did you know that?"

He chuckled again. "It doesn't take a genius to guess. It's what- eleven o'clock?

Normal people would be clean by then."

"For your information, yes. I just got out from the shower."

"I knew it," he said triumphantly. "Nice hair, by the way. It looked even nicer before you ran a brush through it. You know, with it sticking to every direction and all of that. Stylish." He laughed.

I froze and dropped my brush.

"How in the world did you know that?"

"Look out your window, Bella," he said softly, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

And I did. I walked toward the window and found him standing beside the oak tree in the yard. I pushed the window open and held my breath when he drew nearer and nearer.

"Hi," he said smilingly when he reached me.

"Hi," I responded, a little breathless.

I was thankful that my room was on the first floor so we could at least be standing on the same level. But given Edward was a lot taller than me, I still had to raise my head to meet his eyes. He was a foot away and his hands were tucked handsomely in the pockets of the faded jeans that he wore. He seemed slightly edgy, though I couldn't imagine why.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were picking your dad up from the airport."

"Yeah," he murmured. "We just got back. Bella, listen. I've been doing a lot of thinking in the car and there's something I need to tell you."

He took another step forward.

"When you asked me why you didn't ever see me with a girlfriend, I lied when I told you I haven't seen the person that I want to be with. Because I have." His eyes were smoldering as they bored into mine. "I have seen the girl that I want to be with. But I guess I've been too much of a coward to do anything about it since I wasn't sure if she felt the same way about me. I didn't want to jeopardize our friendship by confessing my feelings for her. But now we only have a couple of months of school before we both head off to college and while I was sitting there in the car, ignoring my parents as they gushed about my dad's business trip, I decided I would go and tell the girl that had feelings for her so I wouldn't have to live through the regret of wondering what might have been when we're away."

My heart stuttered and I was still holding my breath. This was so much to take in. It was everything that I had dreamed of. No, it was _better _than _anything _I had ever dreamed of.

"Now that I'm here," He twined our fingers together and brought my hand to his lips. "I'm desperate to know if she could ever see me as more than a best friend."

"Yes," I whispered, a jubilant laugh escaping from mouth. "She had always hoped they could be more than friends. But she, too, had been too chicken to tell the boy how she felt because she didn't think he would be interested."

Edward pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. "Really?" His breath hit my face.

"Yes," I told him, smiling.

Then bringing his other hand to my cheek, he leaned forward until our noses were pressed together. Very hesitatingly, he kissed me.

It was my first kiss, even though I was eighteen years old, a senior in high school. And it was more magical and wonderful than I'd always pictured it would be. The excitement and joy that coursed through me was indescribable. I didn't think my body had enough room to contain so much pleasure.

"By the way," he chuckled when we pulled away, "Can we please stop talking in third person?"

I laughed. "Sure. In fact, I don't mind if we don't do any talking at all."

I brought his face down to mine again and kissed him with just as much enthusiasm as before. Even though I was new at this, it felt like the most natural thing in the world. _I can do this all night_, I thought blissfully.

Obviously, that was before Charlie knocked on my door, peeked in, and found me making out with my "so-called" best friend, which was what he had referred Edward as after the kissing incident. He gasped, clenched his fists, and hollered my name at the top of his lungs.

"ISABELLA MARIE SWAN! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING AT THIS HOUR??"

Edward stiffened and smiled at me apologetically before whispering, "I'll see you in school tomorrow." Then he darted out of sight, leaving me alone with my father, who looked as if he was about to hyperventilate.

Charlie's face turned red. Then purple. Then green. Then finally red again. God, as cruel as this is going to sound, I really wanted to laugh at that time.

"Isabella?" Charlie sounded calmer now though his fists were still shaking. This was bad. Charlie only called me by my full name when he was really pissed off. "Young lady, you have some explaining to do. I'm going to wake your mother up and you're not going back to bed until you answer every single question that we have in mind. Do you understand me?"

I sighed, shrugged, and I think my indifferent response only made Charlie even angrier. He stomped off to his bedroom after letting out a loud _humph_ and I heard him knocking over some of the picture frames on his way to my mother.

I knew the conversion with my parents was going to be dreadful and possibly last all night. Although Charlie wasn't much of a chatterbox, he had a talent for questioning people. I guess that was something he had picked up over the years working as a policeman. But at that moment, I really didn't care. Because I was too busy daydreaming- or I guess in this case, night-dreaming- about Edward and the kind of life we had together now that we had admitted our feelings to each other. I was never "one of the guys" from our gang. Edward had seen me as _me _all along.

Who said best friends can't ever be boyfriend and girlfriend? The thought of that put a huge grin on my face.

* * *

**Please review! **

**This- like I said- is my first one-shot so I would love hear your feedback!**

**I hope you enjoyed it:) **


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Hi guys. Thank you all so much for leaving reviews for this One-Shot. I honestly didn't expect to have such wonderful feedback. I got a message from Bronzehairedgirl620, the host of this contest, so I thought I should post this AN to let you all know about the voting. If you think this story deserves to have a shot at making it to the second or third round, please go to Bronzehairedgirl620's profile to vote. I'll keep you guys posted on how it goes! Thank you for your participation!

The Voting of Epic T-rated Contest

Round one_: _**_June 22nd-26th_**_._

_All entries will be included._

Round two_:_ **_June 29th-July 3rd_**_._

_The top half (30-40 entries) from the first round will be included here._

Round three_: **July 6th-10th**._

_The top half (20-30 entries) from the second round will be included here, and the top three winners will be determined._

The prizes will be either a banner, signature or cover for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners.

-Twilightluver001


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